Kites: The Remix - Movie Review
Published: February 15, 2011
Starring Hrithik Roshan, Barbara Mori
Kites was an unusual experiment in Hindi film: two versions were released—one for Indian audiences and one for international audiences. But the reason for the international version isn't clear, since the original was specifically made to appeal to Western sensibilities, while remaining true to the essence of Hindi cinema. The story is set in the U.S.; the actors speak English as well as Hindi and Spanish; there is only one dance scene; and the plot follows a single sequence of events—all of which help make the film accessible to non-Indian viewers. The original looks like an American film, but it feels like an Indian one. The Remix, on the hand, looks and feels like an American film—which is to say, there isn't much feeling in it.
American filmmaker Brett Ratner—best-known for his films Red Dragon, the Rush Hour series, and X-Men: The Last Stand—edited the international version. Ratner did exactly what he was supposed to do—thoroughly Americanize a Hindi film, and the result is lackluster in comparison. The only thing compelling about it is that it illustrates where Western and Indian filmmaking diverge.
The two key differences between the two versions (and between Hollywood and Bollywood) is length and the way music is used. Like opera, Hindi films are long for a reason: The time commitment heightens the audience's emotional investment in the characters as well as the characters' emotional investment in each other. Ratner edits The Remix down to an hour and a half from the original's running time of 130 minutes. The development of the romance is rushed, important intimate scenes are chopped, and it therefore doesn't make sense why the lead characters risk their lives to be together.
Not that all of his edits are imprudent; he makes sensible trims in several spots, including axing one awkward murder scene. Less is often more where violence and sex are concerned, and while he gets the former right, he renders the film's only love scene less sexy by adding to it.
The film's emotional content is further gutted by Ratner's musical changes. The Remix is almost entirely rescored. The original's haunting musical theme is removed, and with it, the original's powerful melancholic tone. In its place is a flat, generic score that elicits no feeling. The music of the original is crucial to conveying the extreme pain and loneliness of the lead characters and their desperation for the tiniest glimmer of love and happiness. Music is one of Bollywood's trademark qualities and its film application is best left to Indian experts.
Ratner also alters the sound mix so that the action noises are deafening and the voices muted, which requires constant volume adjustments while watching the film—an annoying problem with American movies that seems to be getting worse.
The high emotional stakes vanish in The Remix, which undermines the plot, and the climax fails to devastate. Don't waste your time on The Remix when the original Kites is a must-see.
Kites: The Remix is rated Skip.
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